HP Netserver LH II - Processor Upgrades?

[Graeme Porter]

Hello,

I have acquired an HP NetServer LH II desk-side server as a hobby machine. I use it for training purposes; installing various network operating systems to familiarize myself with them (this box has had various flavours of Linux/UNIX and Windows on it).

The server is currently equipped with two Pentium II processors each running at 300 MHz, and has 512 MB of RAM.

I found an old article via a Google search which referred to a "Deschutes" processor upgrade kit that HP were making available. "Deschutes" was the Intel internal codename for one of the latter Pentium 2 die, possibly allowing the NetServer LH II to be fitted with 450 MHz Pentium II or Xeon processors.

I did find a part number for a product described as a "PII 450MHZ Deschutes CPU Upgrade" - the part code was D7032A, but I can't find any reference to this from HP's websites, and can't find compatibility information.

The other possibility I have considered is that the original "Katmai" Pentium 3 processors (in slot 1 form factor) are basically Pentium 2 chips but with an enhanced instruction set (incorporating MMX2 and SECC2) - these were designed so that they could be plugged into older Pentium 2 motherboards.

Are either of these viable upgrade options for my LH II?

Additionally, I'm looking for the HP Navigator CD-ROMs for my NetServer LH II - if anyone has a copy of these, knows where I can get the originals from, or has a link to a .iso image of these discs, it would benefit me greatly.

I've been trying for the last couple of days to contact HP UK, without any success - the "Contact Us" section of the HP UK website appears to be a bit of a disaster area...

Can someone give me an e-mail address for someone who works at HP who would be able to help me with this?

Kind regards,
Graeme Porter

[Sean T. Craig · Accepted solution]

Hi Graeme,

I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help to you. The D7032A was designed to run on the LH3, LC3, E60 & LPr servers. I can not say whether or not it will work in the LH II.

As far as the Navigator CD's go, they are no longer supplied but you may be able to find one by searching the internet for 5065-7470. The CD is not required for installation but it does give you an assisted install which will pre-load drivers for you and allow you to create a utility partion (that you will likely never use).

As far as contacting someone from HP for help, there's more bad news; the LH II is considered End of Service Life. HP will no longer provide free phone support on this product and will only be offering Remote Hardware Support via the per event program. Web documentation will still be available, however e-mail will no longer be provided.

I wish I had better news for you but I do hope this answers some questions for you.

Best of luck,

Sean T. Craig Sr. C.E.T., M.C.P.

[Graeme Porter]

Thanks very much; I had no idea which Netservers that the Deschutes upgrade would be compatible with.

I thought HP had made the LH II an EOL product, but I couldn't be sure because there are still e-mail support links for the whole Netserver LH product line, but only two or three of them actually work.

[e4services]

The last BIOS update for the LH II is what will limit you on what CPU it will support. I am sure it never was updated to support anything past the PII 300.
All the drivers needed are available at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/ProductList.jsp?locale=en_US&taskId=135&prodSeriesId=50440&prodTypeId=15351